Raniss
The Raniss hail from the fertile river valleys, and are by nature a down-to-earth people. As a race, the Raniss have been quick to spread out and establish themselves elsewhere, in spite of their origins. While wars have been raged between some separate populations, there has overall only been mass outward growth across the western continent. Physical Description By most measurements, the Raniss mark the median in every respect. They're the middle of the road in terms of height, wingspan, and weight. The typical Raniss has yellowish-green scales, sometimes in a range that could be considered brown, which fade into a lighter hue towards the ventral side. They have box-like snouts comparable to those of a wolf, and two moderately-long horns protruding from the back of the head. A set of three short, round horns sit along the jawline on either side. Above these are a pair of two slim, triangular ears. The Raniss occasionally exhibit mutations where they grow bony protrusions all over their body. This is referred to as "feral skin," and it is known to inhibit the ability of those afflicted to function. Depending on the degree of frequency and size of these protrusions, feral skin can be fatal. Culture Being a sedentary people hailing from fertile river valleys, the Raniss are the most proficient farmers and architects of any of the races. They value effort, dedication, and community above all else, as those are the most common requirements of their lifestyle. While many Raniss do choose to split off from the communities of their birth, this is considered a cruel act of desertion and they are forbidden from returning in most cases. Because of the high labor demand of their lifestyle, most hamlets contain multiple family units to split the work. Raniss society is typically built from the family level upwards. A majority of townships convene to discuss rules after morally dubious occurrences instead of deciding on a governing body. The ones that do have governments typically also use currency used to exchange for goods and services, which, while not especially common, has proven effective. Many Raniss simply have not been exposed to currency. In addition to farming, Raniss are the first race to have gained access to the ever-useful earth magics. Using these, many townships have created mines, and these are the ones that ultimately decided to begin minting coinage out of such things as gold and silver. Earth magic has other applications as well, and a common adolescent rite of passage is to perform an advanced ritual using earth magic. Clothing, Weaponry & Armor Because of their ready access to many materials such as weavable, farmable plant matter, minerals, and large farm animals, the Raniss have many different things to work with when creating clothing. Leather, cotton, and wool are frequently used, though due to the lack of automation or such conveniences as the cotton gin, most will drive a hard bargain for quality clothing. Casual dress is usually made up of sheetwears such as togas, chlamys, and exomis, while for farmwork, more sturdy garments like leather boots, skirts, and vests are worn. Raniss armor is the sturdiest armor out of those made by any other race, though the metal quality is typically primitive. Raniss have access to significantly more pigments than the other races, using not only the common iron oxide pigments, but malachite green, azurite blue, and tyrian purple. While blue and purple pigments typically indicate higher status due to their relative rarity, they are still useful in identifying Raniss works, and are commonly used in culturally important artwork. Pigments are heavily used in sheetwears, and often are used as a tool to distinguish status. A Raniss with simple, small quantities of green on their sheetwears is considered low-class, while a Raniss with heavy use of blue and purple (often used with yellow) in their sheetwears is a definite member of a higher caste. Raniss serfs universally have white, undyed sheetwears.Category:Races Category:Raniss